I started photographing births when I started Beth Skogen Photography in 2009. While I’ve love documenting such incredible moments in the lives of many, it’s time for me to step away from birth photography.
I’d recommend reaching out to these amazing birth photographers in Madison, WI:
When I’m hired to take an individual business portrait or portraits for a business in the Madison area, I usually get asked about clothing. I’ve listed some tips that hopefully help you figure out what to wear for your portrait session. I’m always happy to email with you about your options.
Think about what colors work with your brand. I don’t think you need to wear the exact color(s) of your brand, but choose colors that work well with your brand colors.
Jewel tones are usually a great choice (dark blue, dark green, burgundy, deep purple, marigold or rust). Avoid bright or neon colors unless that makes sense for your brand.
Adding a little pattern can be fun. I’d recommend a pattern that is timeless like stripes or a subtle floral pattern.
Try to stay away from all bright white. This is a personal preference. When I look at photos of a person wearing a bright white shirt, my eyes go right to the white piece of clothing instead of the person’s face. The color cream or wearing a white shirt under a suit jacket is fine too.
Where will the photos be taken? What colors will work well with the background?
Choose an outfit that makes sense for your profession and the look you’re going for with the portraits.
Wear what you love and feel good in.
If the shirt, blouse or dress you wear needs ironing, please do so before the session.
Jewelry? If you wear jewelry regularly, that’s great! If a necklace makes sense with your neckline and that’s your style, go for it.
Hair and make-up? I’m on the side of doing what you normally do. If you want to add a little more make-up than usual, that’s fine. Going and getting your hair and make-up done is fine, but I’ve had people do that and then look at the images and they don’t think they look like themselves.
Suit jacket and/or tie? It’s up to you as far as the professional or casual look you want to showcase.
Ultimately, I want you to be YOU!
STILL NOT SURE WHAT TO WEAR?
Take your 3 favorite outfits out of your closet, try them on and pick your favorite from those.
Ask a friend/partner/spouse for their opinion.
Bring a second option to the session.
Create a Pinterest board or browse social media for similar looks as to what you’re looking for.
Research what other professionals in your field are doing for their portrait.
I’m always available to help you figure out what will be best. Feel free to email a photo of your options.
Want to read more tips about a photography session? This blog post goes more in depth as to what you can expect when you hire me.
Figuring out what you alone should wear to a photo session can be a struggle! Then add in a few kiddos and your partner… this might make it a little more stressful. Here are some tips to help you figure out what to wear before your family session.
Here’s a link to my Pinterest Board for inspiration for what to wear at your family photo session. https://pin.it/6Lj00GL
GENERAL TIPS:
Wear what you love! Choose one outfit you love and then build off of that for everyone else.
I’m all about comfort; wear something you feel good in! I don’t want you to have to think about what you’re wearing while I’m photographing you. I want you to focus on spending time with your family.
Choose 2-3 colors that work well together. Jewel tones are usually a great choice (Burgundy, dark blue, deep purple or forest green). Navy blues are always a safe and lovely choice to wear during a photo session. Ask yourself: What is your favorite color? What colors are primarily in your home? When you think about hanging images from your session on your wall, what colors would work well?
Add a little pattern! Maybe your daughter has on a floral pattern dress. I think thin stripes are fun as well. And of course plaid is an easy pattern to throw in with some solid choices.
Try to stay away from all bright white. This is a personal preference when I look at photos of people. When there is a white dress/shirt or pants, my eye goes right to the white piece of clothing.
Think about the location we’ll be photographing at. What colors will work well with the background?
If we aren’t at your home, bring water and snacks. It’s always great to take a little break. I’m there to document it all. If you do bring a snack, keep it as clean and simple and possible. For instance, Cheetos would not be a great choice.
PARENTS, THESE TIPS ARE FOR YOU:
Pockets could be helpful for tiny rewards! I had a parent keep Skittles in a plastic baggy in her pocket for when her kids smiled for the camera.
Will your child be distracted if you wear a necklace? It could be fun but it could also be an annoyance for you.
Try to leave your phone in your bag or car so the outline doesn’t show in your pocket.
CHILDREN:
Think about your child’s personality. Will they be distracted by something they’re wearing? If your daughter is wearing a dress with no shorts or pants, will her dress be above her waist?
Shoes. This is personal preference and it depends on where we’re taking the photos.
More importantly, BE YOU! I want to document your family as you are, having fun together.
We’re lucky to have so many interesting urban and outdoor places in the Madison area that make for beautiful photo backdrops.
Here are a few of my favorite family adventures to shoot:
Grab ice cream at your favorite place and walk together to a playground.
Plan a picnic in your backyard or neighborhood park.
Go for an urban art walk down State Street, around Capitol Square, or on Willy Street.
Tag along with your pup to the dog park.
Get early morning coffee and donuts and walk along the lake.
Maybe you just want to stick around home. I love that too! What do you like to do together as a family? Are there any milestones that you’d like documented? Maybe your daughter just learned to tie her shoes, or your son just learned their first song on the piano?
Here are a few ideas of what you could do at home:
Have a tickle fight
Play a board game
Sing and dance to your favorite song
Bake cookies or make a snack like popcorn
Play dress up
Get out your favorite toys
Jump on the bed (if your parents are okay with it!)
Read a book together
Play outside! Bike, swing, hike, go to your favorite playground, etc.
Play an instrument
We have so much variety for photography backdrops because we live in the midwest. Here are some ideas to take advantage of the seasons in Wisconsin:
Celebrate a birthday!!
Pick strawberries
Go to an apple orchard
Go to a pumpkin patch
Fall … Anything fall because of the changing color
Go to a Christmas tree farm to cut down your own tree
Decorate your Christmas tree
Brave the cold and go outside in the winter! Ice skate, build a snowman, have a snowball fight, or go sledding
I hope this helps you think of how you’d like your family to be photographed or documented with video. As always, feel free to contact me with your ideas or questions!
Beth Skogen Photography received a community impact grant called the Digital Dream Grant in May 2021 from Social Media Breakfast Madison and DreamBank to offer four Madison area businesses/organizations a two hour photography session each. Select businesses will receive images to help promote their business on social media and to update their website. In a time when businesses are struggling, spending funds on photography and marketing might not be at the top of their list. Beth Skogen wants to help!
DETAILS • Each of the four businesses/organizations in Dane County will receive up to 2 hours of photographing and around 40-50 final images to use in their marketing efforts in perpetuity. • Type of photography offered will be candid/lifestyle/behind the scenes imagery. View Beth’s portfolio. • Submissions will be accepted until 12am CST on June 30, 2021. • The four selected businesses/organizations will be notified by August 1, 2021. • Applicants must be doing business in Dane County. • Applicants must be the owner of the business/organization to be considered for this opportunity. • Applicants must have been financially impacted by the pandemic.
A panel of small business owners will review the applications and select four businesses/organizations that will receive a session to help in their marketing efforts.
Wow, just wow! I’m honored to be nominated by Expertise.com for being one of 23 great portrait photographers in Madison, Wisconsin. We have such a strong community of photographers and I’m excited to be highlighted as one of them.
You hired a professional photographer and downloaded your photos, what now? I want you to take off running now that you have your professional photos. Here are some ideas to get you started!
1. First things first, download and backup your images. I’ll send you a Dropbox link to download your photos but they won’t stay there for too long (unless we’re working together on a regular basis).
A good rule of thumb is to have 3 versions of your data; 1 of which should be saved at an off-site location as well.
I use and trust BackBlaze, which is continuously backing up my computer and hard drives. If a drive fails, I can go onto their website and either download data or they’ll send me a hard drive. I’ve only had great experience with them over the years AND it’s only $6 a month to backup unlimited data. That’s a pretty great deal. There are other services like them out there as well.
2. Update your website! How exciting that you’ll have new content to update on your website! I’ve added information (metadata) to your photos that will help with your search engine optimization (SEO). This metadata will also help when it comes to searching for them on your computer.
I name the files with your business name or first name if we had a portrait session which is helpful but for specific pages and posts you write, I’d recommend that you rename your photos to match your content before you upload the images to your website (business-keywords-spaced-like-so.jpg). It’d be a good idea to copy the original images into a ‘website update’ folder and rename the files accordingly from there.
Adding text to the ‘Alt Text’ area on your website is very important. Plug in a few keywords that make sense for that specific page on your website. If you’re posting your portrait, just add your name and/or business.
I add keywords to each image that people might use on Google to search for your business. Google will be able to access this metadata to help you get found online and ultimately get more business. I wrote a blog post all about this a few years ago.
You’ll notice two folders in your Dropbox link: a folder of high resolution images for printing and a folder of low resolution images for web use. You want to upload smaller images on your website so it loads as quick as possible. If you need different sizes other than what I’ve included, please let me know and I’ll send you different sizes.
An important note to my family clients: I never use names or personal information on your photos.
Do you want to learn more about SEO and make sure your website is working in your favor? Eagan Heath of Get Found Madison is the guy to contact. He can help you get found on the first page of Google, and who wouldn’t want that? His website is also full of digital marketing content regarding Facebook, Google Ads, website analytics, email marketing and much more. He’s such an awesome resource and all around great guy!
Need help updating your website or branding? Below is a list of graphic designers that can help with not only your website, but with any graphic design and branding needs such as your logo, business cards, marketing material, etc.
Maybe you need updated wording on your website. Amanda Brashi is copywriter helping creative service providers use conversational messaging to find their dream clients. Amanda Brashi EB Copy/Emilia Burns
3. Update your social media profile photo. LinkedIn is probably the first place you might want to update. You could also update your Google photo, Facebook and Instagram while you’re at it.
4. Update everything else! You might as well start thinking about updating any marketing material you have (brochure, business cards, etc.).
5. Share images on social media – make a plan and stick to it! I know social media is a daunting task to commit to, but if you keep a calendar and stay consistant, I promise that’ll make it easier. I don’t suggest posting all of the images at once. Instead, post one at a time and write posts that will engage your followers, make it personal and ask questions. All I ask is that you please don’t put a filter on your images or edit them any further than the work I put into the photos. If you’re not happy with the final results, I’m happy to talk about what else can be done.
If you start to get a headache posting regularly on social media, reach out to Amber or David.
Amber Doss, EXCELlent Virtual Assistance – She can help business professionals in almost any aspect of their business from creating Excel templates that streamline repetitive tasks, to helping with email marketing and social media.
David Clark-Sally, Clark-Sally Consulting – He specializes in copywriting & editing and social media marketing & strategy.
6. Print a few out to have on display in your office! This sounds fun, right?Images tend to end up just staying on our devices since we live in such a digital world. Frame a few or just print a few out to hang on your office fridge.
7. Give credit when you can. Social media is such a great platform for tagging, mentioning and using hashtags, especially for small businesses! I am active on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. And of course my website is always a great option.
8. Share the love. Lastly, if you enjoyed your experience with me and would like to share, please consider leaving a review. This goes for yourself and any small business; put yourself out there and ask for reviews and then write them when you can.
A helpful tip when writing Google reviews: Since Google loves keywords, try to mention as many keywords as you can based on what kind of experience you had with the business. For example, if you had your portrait taken, some words to incorporate into your review would be: portrait, portrait photographer, portraits, Madison, Wisconsin.
I’m always here if you have questions about your photos. I’m happy to help! Thank you for hiring me and enjoy using your new photos!
A quality of mine that comes in handy during a portrait session, is my hyper-attention to DETAIL. Not only do I need to make sure I’m taking properly exposed and well composed images, I need to make my subject feel comfortable being photographed. On top of that, I look at where their hair is laying, their necklace and their shirt and collar.
Here’s a list of things I look for consistently during the session:
I make sure the necklace is in the center and the clasp is in the back.
If the person has bangs, I make sure they’re doing what the person wants! I would hate to have them swoop too far to one side when that’s the look they typically don’t like. Or maybe the hairs should be evenly spaced across the forehead. All very important!
If their hair is shorter in length, I look to make sure none of it is getting caught in their shirt, especially if they’re wearing a collared shirt.
I can’t stand when there are random hairs on the subject’s shoulders or caught in the shirt. I either pull smaller chunks of hair forward and push the rest back, pull a little on one side or push it all to the back. Most of the time the subject has a preference and I want the images to best represent them!
And if we’re shooting outside and a gust of wind comes up, I’ll fix it all over again! I’d rather fix during the shoot then try and photoshop a lot of the image afterwards.
Beth Skogen Photography is located in Madison, Wisconsin but is happy to travel. For more information about what to expect during a portrait session, check out this longer blog post.
